Tree & Shrub Care

Fertilization: All plants need fertilizer. Without a balanced nutrition program trees and shrubs will be more susceptible to insects, disease, and winter injury. I use a deep root tree feeder to inject high quality fertilizers with healthy minor nutrients such as iron and manganese deep into the root zone. The fertilizers I use also contain millions of beneficial bacteria which promote root development and resistance to many insects and diseases. Spring and Fall are the most effective times to fertilize your trees and shrubs.

Dormant Oil Spraying: Also known as Horticultural Oil, oil sprays are typically done when the plant is dormant. The oil smothers eggs that were laid by insects the previous season, killing them before they have a chance to hatch and do damage. Our dormant oil is 99% mineral oil, so it is extremely refined which virtually eliminates any risk to the soft tissue of plants and has no adverse impact to the environment.

Insect Control: Many insects lay their eggs in locations where dormant oil cannot reach, therefore treatments need to be made while the pest is active but before they have a chance to do any damage. Knowledge of all known potential pests of all the various trees and shrubs is critical to dealing with insects. I offer Integrated Pest Management Solutions to monitor your plants throughout the growing season. I only treat with a pesticide if it is necessary. Some treatments are sprayed on the foliage other require systemic insecticides be injected into the plants root zone and trans located into the plants vascular system.

Disease Prevention: The key word here is prevention. Fungicide applications need to be applied before the disease has developed in order to keep plants disease free. This does not mean once a plant is diseased it cannot be saved, it just means it might have to wait until the following season to begin treatments. Knowing which species are more prone to disease development determines whether or not a fungicide program is required. Many species will require disease prevention on a yearly basis in order to maintain optimum health. Other diseases can simply be improved by improving the plants surrounding environment, pruning to improve air flow or to increase sunlight is just one example.

Here are some useful links for some of the more common issues I come across in the field.